Hi forum, I'm looking for thoughts on how well the new 2016 Land Cruiser (V8 gasoline) is set up for rough-road and off-road use. We are just about to start a conversion on a Jeep JK 4 door to make it a world cruiser, but by the time we upgrade motor, tranny, drive train and suspension, bumpers, etc., etc. we're looking at 50K+ in upgrades for what we wanted to do. For that much we're about at the price of a new 2016 Land Cruiser after we trade in our base JK.
I'm not intending this to be a JK vs LC performance or gas vs diesel debate as it isn't apples to apples comparison, but I really want to know how strong the new LCs generally are for durability as well as traction and ground clearance for 4x4 off road and bush driving. Were not rock-crawling, but expect a lot of rough roads, and don't want the vehicle to be the limiting factor, or be prone to breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
Are people having to uplift stock LCs and modify suspensions with aftermarket parts like people do to the Jeeps, or are the stock items robust enough for fairly tough use?
I drove across Tibet in LCs in mid 1990s up to Mt. Everest base camp and know they're super strong as well as comfortable (or at least they were back then) ....what's the "skinny" on the new models? We'll be pulling an offroad camping trailer so I like the tow aspects of the new models.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I'm not intending this to be a JK vs LC performance or gas vs diesel debate as it isn't apples to apples comparison, but I really want to know how strong the new LCs generally are for durability as well as traction and ground clearance for 4x4 off road and bush driving. Were not rock-crawling, but expect a lot of rough roads, and don't want the vehicle to be the limiting factor, or be prone to breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
Are people having to uplift stock LCs and modify suspensions with aftermarket parts like people do to the Jeeps, or are the stock items robust enough for fairly tough use?
I drove across Tibet in LCs in mid 1990s up to Mt. Everest base camp and know they're super strong as well as comfortable (or at least they were back then) ....what's the "skinny" on the new models? We'll be pulling an offroad camping trailer so I like the tow aspects of the new models.
Thanks for your thoughts.